Big League Stew

Barry Bonds has been a frequent visitor to San Francisco's AT&T Park over the past few years, so it's not exactly that startling to see him out in public. But baseball's all-time home run leader has caused a bit of a stir on the Internet after being recently spotted in an unexpected destination located more than a few long blasts from McCovey Cove.

Now, Barry has lost a bit of his bulk since he last played in 2007, so it's possible some of you don't recognize him. That's him on the left wearing the spandex suit and a look that's a bit more svelte from the body that hit 762 big-league home runs. The picture was requested by and taken with former Cal pitcher Adam Gold as Bonds stopped for a breather at Independence Pass — a spot in the Rocky Mountains that boasts an elevation of 12,095 feet into the Colorado sky. For a little perspective, Gold stands 6-foot-3 and weighs 185 pounds.

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Barry Bonds in 2007. (Getty)

That Bonds likes to bike shouldn't come as a big surprise, though. As was reported last spring, the 48-year-old has traded trying to hit for cycles — as well as, uh, staying on them (allegedly) — for the type that comes with two wheels. Bonds tools around on a $16,000 Pinarello racing bike, entered the 2011 El Tour de Tucson and recently arrived in Aspen to take the 3 1/2-hour trip up to Independence Pass.

Anything, apparently, to keep his mind off the fact that he's going to be "very sad" if he doesn't get into the Hall of Fame on his first try this winter.

It's interesting, of course, that Bonds went from one international sport that spent the last decade staging witch hunts for steroid users into another international sport that continues to do the same thing. But we'll leave that for the armchair psychologists to figure out. Until then, we'll just note that Bonds is really putting a new spin on the phrase "riding into the sunset."